North Antrim rock mark (Red Bay), 51" conger.

[cathalger]

()People:Dave and Andew, me.

Duration:8pm to 11.30pm

Tide:rising, low water was at 7.20pm.

Weather:Mild, still, very light N wind.

Bait:Mackerel, squid, spinner and fly.

Rigs:single hooks and a lead.

Results:A big conger, 1lb 12oz pollack, 1 mackerel, 1 wee cod, many pollack and coley to 1lb.




Report:
Got there at 8pm geared up to catch small fish and as many species as possible, mainly just for young Andrew(8) to have a bit of fun. As soon as we peered in (not long after low water) we could see a lot of nice small pollack and coley over the gravel. Andrew started things off with 2 coley on bits of mackerel. He guessed their weights at 6oz and 14oz. He was exactly right, to the ounce. Weird.

I was just admiring 2 blueish looking fish which I thought might have been sea trout, about 1lb? when I saw a big flat blue tail disappear into the kelp about 5 foot from where I was stood. It then did a swim around the gravel about 12 foot down, right below us, a big eel. I headed back to the car and got a boat rod, a lidl wire trace, a stout 3/0 hook which came out of a redgill eel, a 4oz gripper lead and a few bigger swivels.

At 8.40pm I lowered the mackerel side knitted onto the hook and trace down close to where the fish swam around. Set the rod down and continued fly fishing and spinning, we were all getting plenty of pollack and coley to the pound. Andrew had a ball. About 9.20pm I reeled up the mackerel fillet to find it had been almost totally devoured by small fish. Put a fresh one on and dropped it back in, a much bigger one. At 9.40pm I said to Dave the braid on the boat rod looked a bit tighter than when I set it. Then the reel clicked slowly. Picked up the rod and felt a nudge. I just hit it because I didnt want it to find a cave or a big bit of kelp. It was there, took a bit of prolonged pressure to get it out from its hidey hole but it came out and gave a good scrap before Dave got it into the trout landing net.

It was 51" inches long and pulled my salter scales which go to 15lb right to th bottom, actually thought the wee salter was going to snap. Dunno what weight but guessing 17 or 18lb? Anyone know what a 51" conger should weigh?

Dave got a mackerel on his 1st cast with spinner after that, he'd been fly fishing til 10pm. He followed that up with a beautiful copper pollack at dusk, 1lb 12oz. Andrew got a tidy wee cod on the spinner.

A very interesting day. Andrew wont forget today. Neither will I, thats my first conger on rod and line and my 2nd biggest fish ever.

Cathal.

Couple of pics now and I'll add more tomorrow.

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Last edited by cathalger on Sun Jun 19, 2011 8:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

beauty!nice one you got more than you bargained for witht that conger.mighty lovley pictures to and pollack.id say your son will be nagging you to bring him out now
tightlines fergal

Cheers Fergal,
I kinda thought it would have been too good to be true to actually catch that fish with wee Andy there to see it but it came together lovely. When I first saw the eel 12 foot down there swimming around I got very excited, the fish was magnified by 12 foot of crystal clear water and I said to Dave its about 35lb. I knew it prob wasnt and then said its maybe about the 20lb mark. It looked very blue and very thick, gracefully swimming around over the gravel.

I forgot to say in the report, when I headed off to grab the boat rod and hook, wire trace etc, I asked Dave to chuck in a few scraps of mackerel bait to basically groundbait the place and keep the eel in our bit of water. He did so, I prob owe Dave for that, it may well have got the big fish on the feed.

We saw 3 sea trout jump before dark, couldnt get 1 on spinner or fly, that would have been the icing on the cake. Itllcome one of these evenings tho.

Thanks again.

sensational fishing there and lovely pics as well, I'd say those eels would make a mess of light tackle. cool to get the kids in on the action

Well done Cathalger and Andrew . Great photos ,,,,,,,, that eel sure put a bend in the rod,,,the little lad is surely hooked on fishing now

Thanks lads, some more pics....

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Nice going Cathalger, i wasn't that far away from you, i tried the rocks just before you come into Glenarm from Larne and got hammered by the doggies, 13 in total. But still happy not to blank.. Thats some conger, well done.....

well done brilliant fishing lads, lovely conger

pure class

Sounds like you had steady sport flyno, well done, yeah we were just a few miles to the north of you.

Andrew guessed these 2 coley at 6 and 14 oz, he's only 8, he was bang on. I checked them on the wee salter scales.

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Cheers Fergal,
I kinda thought it would have been too good to be true to actually catch that fish with wee Andy there to see it but it came together lovely. When I first saw the eel 12 foot down there swimming around I got very excited, the fish was magnified by 12 foot of crystal clear water and I said to Dave its about 35lb. I knew it prob wasnt and then said its maybe about the 20lb mark. It looked very blue and very thick, gracefully swimming around over the gravel.

I forgot to say in the report, when I headed off to grab the boat rod and hook, wire trace etc, I asked Dave to chuck in a few scraps of mackerel bait to basically groundbait the place and keep the eel in our bit of water. He did so, I prob owe Dave for that, it may well have got the big fish on the feed.

We saw 3 sea trout jump before dark, couldnt get 1 on spinner or fly, that would have been the icing on the cake. Itllcome one of these evenings tho.

Thanks again.

good thinking happydays im hoping to get one here down south this year,have tried on a few occassions serious sessions but no luck as of yet."GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT?"i hope.35lb id be fairly chuffed with a strap conger for my first eel lol all the best!

fantastic session and brilliant photos, well done guys

cracking conger cathal,,,what weight would you reckon

cracking conger cathal,,,what weight would you reckon

I said to Dave its about 35lb. I knew it prob wasnt and then said its maybe about the 20lb mark. It looked very blue and very thick, gracefully

Cracking eel man well done on pulling it out. Braver man then me! Nice pics too the wee lad looks like he had a ball.

[cathalger]

cracking conger cathal,,,what weight would you reckon

I said to Dave its about 35lb. I knew it prob wasnt and then said its maybe about the 20lb mark. It looked very blue and very thick, gracefully

Cracking eel man well done on pulling it out. Braver man then me! Nice pics too the wee lad looks like he had a ball.

Hi dfella,
thanks for response. Yea it was nice for the wee lad. I thought it was very very big when I viewed it first on the bottom, magnified through roughly 12 foot of water, it was the thickness of it that stood out. That was 1.5hours before I had it in my hands out of the water. Even the pounder coley we were catching below us looked like much better fish, when viewed through so much water.

The above quote of mine you selected is not a response to Brians question. I said that to Dave in mad excitment when I first saw the thing way down in the water. It looked enormous, due to magnification, 12 foot down. That was an hour and a half before I hooked it.

When Dave got it into the net I said what you reckon Dave, 12lb? Dave said I think its a bit bigger than that. The scales go up to 15lb, it was a bit more than the scales could read.

###BRIAN I dont really know but I would say probably not more than 18lb and possibly only 16lb but I'm guessing, the spring balance did slow a bit as the wee guage reached the 15lb mark but it was hard to the base of the scale, so I dunno exactly.

I was hoping someone might be able to tell from experience roughly what a 51" eel should weigh?????

Cheers, Cathal.
Will do proper responses soon to all.

Last edited by cathalger on Sun Jun 19, 2011 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fine fishing & pics & that's a mighty Conger well done

Very nice snake lads and good photos too Well done

Brilliant session and great pictures, and what an experiance for the young lad im sure he's hooked for life

Cracking Conger.Well done.

nice fishing well done to all..